This Center is an extension of the Chinese School. While the primary objective of the School is teaching the youth Chinese, the adults and Chinese teachers are the target groups of the DEC.
- In response to the call of our church missionary outreach program “Deepening into the Communities, and Embracing the World”
- In realization of Christ’s spirit in serving the community, benefiting the neighborhoods, and giving back to the society
Operations
- Adult Education
Early on, there were some inquiries from Sunday School teachers if Chinese keyboard entry skills could be taught. Seizing the opportunity to serve, we thought we could help Sunday School teachers to plan their lectures, and without hesitation we began to prepare for the related courses . Gradually, as more demands grew, we set up classes, and the scope of interests expanded. In early 2011, when classes first started, they became full and packed quickly. Among them, were two classes with more than 45 students, and since we didn’t have a room big enough, we had to use the dining hall of the Garfield Worship Center. Though classes were crowded, every student was quite pleased. Since some classes were not suitable to be large-scale sessions, they had to be split in two. From the over-filled classes, we could clearly see that there were genuine demands. More classes were subsequently developed and launched. Over the next several years, we enrolled more than 800 students in the adult compute r classes. We never expected such a spectacular result at the outset. Presently, our classes may not be as crowded as before; however, the capacity of every class is at average, ensuring the computer rooms to be are adequate enough to fit all the students.
Running adult classes brought some unexpected surprises to us. We did not only have ample opportunities to work with brothers and sisters, we also happily met a lot of parents. Some graduated students were so elated to share with me that their friends admired them as a “computer genius”. Hearing some positive comments definitely made us proud of our work. The Scripture says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” ( Rom. 8:28). Therefore, as it turns out, serving one another in the name of the Lord is not difficult to materialize; it also pushes us to move forward with great encouragement.
- Teacher Training
Our School has gained a good reputation over the years. In 2011, our School was selected to be one of 23 “Global Digital Learning Centers” by Overseas Chinese Affairs Council (OCAC) from Taiwan. Being funded by the OCAC, our School provided training in digital skills to other Chinese school teachers and those Chinese teachers in the local mainstream schools. For this matter, a computer room was further well-equipped and remodeled to be opened in 2012. Presently, our curriculum and courses are all developed for the on -site training, at which teachers and students assemble to meet. In the future, we plan to develop on-line courses, such as “Distance Learning”, which students could go on-line to learn. At on-site training, there are more opportunities to do class work in a physical setting, and any questions and problems could be dealt with immediately. This type of on-site training is presently more suitable to our situation. On-line training does not have restrictions to locati ons and distance . Not only could we sign up more students, its scope of learning could also be expanded with far-reaching impacts. In addition, lecturers and assistants do not need to be in the same location, making it a class-room without borders.
In these computer courses, our Chinese teachers could manufacture animations, CD’s and on-line games to make students’ learning more lively, amusing, and interesting. Not only could students play and learn at the same time, they could also complete their assigned work on-line. Learning Chinese is no longer a boring task.
A View to the Future
